Help - puppy still doing odd poo in house

[celestebellman]

Hi, have a 5 month old terrier puppy, he is mainly housetrained, and I did have 3 weeks off work when we first got him (aged 8 weeks) to take him into the garden every 15 minutes and encourage him to toilet - which is only really sustainable short term…..
However, recently, he has been going upstairs - we planned that he would not be allowed upstairs, which was fine initially until around 2 months ago when he worked out it was there, and has since taken not much notice of being told to stay downstairs (don’t have a stair gate, thinking perhaps should get one). The main issue with this is that a few times recently (and I think this is exacerbated by lack of routine in the summer holidays, I am at work and kids and partner are at home and less reliable watchers than me) he has gone upstairs and had a poo in one of the kids’ bedrooms. He seems to particularly like this room, though I have sprayed odour neutraliser when it happens and tried to keep doors shut.
Am wondering if:

1. he doesn’t recognise upstairs as any different to outside… also carpets seem a bit like grass.
2. he knows he shouldn’t be doing this but is doing it anyway
3. he is doing it to indicate he is unsettled

Also very demoralising as don’t want a dog pooing in the house going forward, and feel a bit of a failure. It’s possible just getting a stair gate will solve the issue as there have not been any recent poos downstairs.
Any advice appreciated - are puppies this age often still not 100% toilet trained?

You are right - he is house trained to the downstairs room but not upstairs.

So a stair gate would be an easy fix if you are too busy to watch him all the time.

Do go back to rewarding him for weeing and pooing in the right place for a few more weeks and that may be enough to sort it out.

No you are not a failure and this too will pass

The simplest solution is to fit a stair gate for now.
We recently got one exactly like
This though ours was only £15 from our local pet shop. You just need to break the habit he’s got into.
He’s still young so give him more of a chance. Just make sure to clean up properly to get rid of any smell that might encourage him to use the same place

Our pup is 5 months today and he has only ever done one poo in the house which was on the first morning we got him (and that was my fault for not getting him out quickly enough!). I’d definitely get a stair gate, it’s not good for his hips to be going up and down stairs anyway. I wonder how often your DH/ DCs are actually letting him out? Does he sit by the door to ask to go out and are they noticing?

Thanks - because it’s summer the patio doors are open much of the time (yes I know this isn’t great) so he is generally able to get out.
He still has the odd inappropriate wee as well - this has been on the doormat (which is probably a bit like grass) but more recently on a cushion and twice on a beanbag - so I am wondering if he is marking his territory! He hasn’t done any wees upstairs, interestingly.

We rescued a 7 month old pup did this a few times for various reasons and I agree its behavioural/territorial

We got a stairgate and I've just started leaving it open and he hasn't done it again he's now 22 months old! Sometimes they just need to grow a bit.

Five months is still small and most will have the odd accident here and there. The stair gate is good advice. One of my dogs was toilet trained fully in a week. This last one was still having accidents overnight at one year old. They're all different.

Thanks all - have ordered a stair gate so fingers crossed. It’s just stressing me out that I can’t relax in the house, and have ended up confining him to kitchen (kitchen dining area - it’s quite big) so he can’t get upstairs, which feels mean.

He's only young, please don't worry!

For now, get a stair gate so he can't access the upstairs, and go back to basics with toilet training. If you can't be there, then crate or shut him somewhere with a hard floor to make cleaning easier!

Remember, this too shall pass.

Yes - hoping will pass, combined with the biting phase and kids at home and lack of routine is really stressful!

5 mnths is still proper puppy territory.

clean the area with an enzymatic cleaner so it stops them going in the same place (I use biological washing powder)

I did loads of classes a and training and behaviourist (goodbye money) and actually what worked was him growing up and me lowering my expectations (my dog is a knob still is and always will be)

It will pass. Try and get the people at home in some sort of routine and I actually enforced naps in my dog in his crate for time-outs as he was so full on.

Thanks all - stair gate in place now so fingers crossed! Just have to make sure everyone keeps it shut..

@cherrypiepie, that’s encouraging that they just get better in their own time. I paid for 3 training sessions, but after grasping the basic principles (treats for everything!) I am trying to manage without paying any more money…

The next thing to worry about is when they realise they can jump the gate....

glares at innocent looking beagle currently snoozing by my feet

When I got my pup he was 95% house trained very quickly but seemed to take ages until he was 100% reliable. I don’t think we did anything different he just got it eventually.

Whenever I go anywhere different e.g. new places, houses etc I tend to go back to basics which means I take mine out frequently before he 'needs' to toilet and then give him his toilet command. I think this reinforces that the new place is still not a toileting area.

Therefore I would restrict upstairs but also when you are closely supervising let him upstairs with you but also make sure you don't leave his side and then frequently take him out for toileting so he starts to think that toileting outside is good but clearly not upstairs.

He’s not a big dog so hoping he won’t be able to jump the gate!

A stairgate would be a good idea. Also, he is still quite a baby and it could be another few months until he is 100%.

Thanks all - no inappropriate poos since stair gate went up. Also reassured to think he is still quite young, hopefully will get there!